Folding chair



March 28, 1944. A. T. DEUTSCH 2,345,330

- FOLDING CHAIR Filed June 5, 1941 INVENTOR. ALEXANDER T. DEUTSCH Patented Mar. 28, 1944 FOLDING CHAIR Alexander T. Deutsch, Cincinnati, Ohio, assignor of twenty percent to Chester Tietig, (lovington, Ky.

Application June 3, 1941, Serial No. 396,440

1 Claim.

This invention relates to a folding chair. Among the objects of the invention are to provide a chair of this character which is more convenient and comfortable to use and more expedi- I tions to manufacture and which will also be more substantial and more readily adjustable to different conditions than those hitherto known. More particularly it is my object to provide a chair of this character which is readily convertible to a reclining chair of the deck type.

Referring now to the drawing:

Figure 1 is a side view of I a reclining deck chair;

Figure 2 is a plan view of the chair;

Figure 3 is a detail view showing a supporting notch for the chair legs;

Figure 4 shows a modified form of cross-member adapted to be received by the supporting notch of Fig. 3; and

Figure 5 is a detail view of a modified form of hinged fastening between the seat frame and foot rest frame.

In the reclining chair illustrated in the drawing, 34 is a rectangular frame adapted to serve as a seat portion. It may be regarded as the main member since all other members are directly or indirectly attached to it. Toward the rear of frame 34, there is a boss 35 which is provided with a pivot 36 upon which is pivoted a back frame 3! which is also rectangular. Frame 31 is provided with a square pin or peg 38 upon each side of the frame by which the frame is supported in various positions as will be shown later. The frame 31 may be adjusted in an are about pivot 36. It is shown in dotted line directed to a vertical position, which is the limit of its forward travel.

Support of the chair is provided by two cross frames, forwardly extending frame 40 and rearwardly extending frame 4|. The former is pivoted to the side of frame 34 by a pivot 42. It may however, be pivoted on the same pin 36 as the back frame 31, although for purposes of illustration, two separate pivots have been shown. Rearwardly extending frame 4| is preferably made somewhat larger in width than either said portion 34 or forwardly extending frame 40. Near its middle portion it has the metal piece 3| providing a notch 32 which is shown in Fig, 3. This notch engages a member 22 also shown in Fig, 7, which may be an entire cross piece extending through frame 40, or it may be a mere pin or peg extending from the sides thereof. It is to be understood that notches 32 and members 22 are provided on each side of the chair. Frame 4| is pivoted to said frame 34 by means of a boss 43 inwhich there is a pivot44. While it is here shown pivoted approximately half way between notch 32 and the forward end of frame 4|, this dimension may be varied. The side members of frame 4| are provided at their forward ends with a metallic terminal portion 45 upon which there isa boss 46 through which there extends a pin 41. An arm rest 48 is pivoted to pin 41 and has a series of notches. 49 in its lower edge to receive the pin or peg 38. It is therefore evident thatthe inclination of back frame 38 can be varied by raising the arm rests 48, which are joined in the rear by a cross member 22 and selecting the desired notches for the accommodation of the pins 38. The back frame 31 is thus provided with firm support.

The front end of said frame 34 is provided also at the sides with metallic terminal pieces 50 to which are connected similar pieces 5| on the foot rest and through which a pin 52 extends upon each side. The pin may extend entirely across the chair. As an alternative construction, a hinge 53 of the kind shown in Fig. 5 may be substituted.

A foot rest frame 54 may be provided for the front of the chair, but it may also be omitted if desired. The purpose of the hinge between-the chair seat and foot rest is to allow the foot restto be folded under the chair as shown in dotted line. To this end, it is made narrower than forwardly extending frame 40. A support 55 is provided near the outer end of foot rest 54, said support being narrower than the foot rest and swingable about a pivot 56 in and out of the same plane as the foot rest. In other words, the support is nestable within the foot rest and is suificiently shorter so as not to interfere with frame 40 when the rest is swung backward as shown in dotted line in Fig. 1.

While it is possible and contemplated in the invention to make the foot rest 54, the seat portion 34 and the back rest 3! with a rigid flooring, such as wooden slats, it is preferred to use cloth such as heavy canvas. By the use of canvas, one of the advantages of the invention is realized, which is that a single length of cloth will sufilce to fill the functions of a floor for the back rest, the seat and the foot support, thereby providing a hammock-like support which has the additional advantage of being foldable so that it can be stored in a small space. In order to provide maximum comfort when cloth, seen as 51 in partial plan view in Fig. 2 is used, a special conformation of the cross members the seat.

22 may be employed. That is to say that a dropped form of cross member 220, which is shown in Fig. 4 is preferably employed. When drop cross pieces are used, the cloth 51 hangs free, suspended from the two extreme ends of the chair, but when a person occupies it, the cloth sags suiiiciently to acquire support from all the cross pieces as well as from those on the extreme ends. In Fig. 1, while 39 has been stated to indicate a pin, it may also take the same form as the dropped cross piece 22a which is also capable of fulfilling the function of giving support to the back provided that the drop portion is sufficiently wide to engage the side members of the seat portion 34 behind back frame 31. r s

It is to be observed that the general principle of my chair is that the seat frame has two pivoted frames suspended from it and that these frames can be crossed one inside the other. notch and cross member are provided for the cooperation of the frames to provide support for It is'of significance that'the notch and the cooperating cross member which fits in the notch are on different frames. This renders it possible for the frames to be swung so that a foot rest can be doubled under the chair and also makes the chair foldable into a small space. It makes possible cooperation between the foot rest and the other parts of the chair to make a structure suitable for full length repose of the user.

I claim as my invention:

A folding chair comprising a seat frame, a

back frame pivotally connected at one end to the seat frame, a pair of supporting frames each having a pair of parallel legs, said supporting frames being pivotally connected adjacent one of their ends to said seat frame at spaced points intermediate the length of the seat frame, a cross-member on one of said supporting frames adapted to be insertably engaged with a pair of notches on the other supporting frame for latching said supporting frames in crossed position relative to each other, one of said supporting frames being slightly wider than the other so that the legs on opposite sides of the chair lie close together, and both supporting frames being wider than the seat frame, covering material for the. seat and back frames, a pair of arm rests pivotally connected to the extended upper ends of the legs of one of the supporting frames, 

